First Impressions
by Thumbs04
Summary: A seqel to A Step Back. Summer has come and James and Lily are meeting eachother's families as well as Sirius and Katie. They learn a lot about each other's background and growing up. Chloe spends time with her friends and meets somebody new but is the ri
1. Chapter 1

Summer Confusion

Bags were packed, owls were hooting and tears were running. It was the last day of school at Hogwarts and it was time to go home. Everybody was packed onto the platform in Hogsmeade. James assisted Lily in carrying her trunk to an empty compartment. They were quickly followed by Sirius, Katie, Chloe, Lupin, Mel and Peter. Once they all settled down they looked out the window and watched Hogsmeade pass as the train lurched forward.

'Home sweet home' Mel thought out loud.

'That was my home,' Sirius whispered. Katie squeezed his hand lightly. 'Are you sure you want to meet my Mum Kate?' Katie nodded.

'I definitely do,' Katie told him. 'Don't think your Mum will like me?'

'She doesn't like me.' Sirius told her, 'and I'm her own son.' James shook his head.

'She's an old bat.' James told everybody. All the girls looked at him in surprise.

'Your going to go calling your best friend's mother that!' Chloe exclaimed.

'We tell the truth about each other,' James told her.

'He practically is my brother…making the old bat partially his mother.' Sirius responded. James shuddered.

'So enough talk about the old bat…' Katie told everybody. 'Let's recap our plans for this summer. They're confusing me!'

'First three weeks we're spending at your place.' Sirius told her.

'Then the next three weeks at Grimauld Place.' Katie told herself. 'Meanwhile?'

'The first three weeks we're spending at my place.' James told everybody.

'Then the next two weeks we're going to my place and then the next we're spending with Sirius and Katie.' Lily stated. Everybody nodded in agreement so far.

'I'm spending two weeks with Mel at my place and then she's going on vacation to Romania.' Chloe stated. 'Then I'm spending sometime with my family and then going to Lily's house for her last week there and then heading over to Grimauld Place.'

'You coming to Grimauld Mel?' Sirius asked. Mel shook her head. 'But you are Lupin?' Remus nodded.

'And I'm spending the same week as Chloe at Lily's.'

'Then we're all spending the last two weeks in Diagon Alley?'

'Yes I'll be meeting you at The Leaky Cauldron.' Peter told everybody.

'That is so bloody confusing!' Lily exclaimed. 'We're sure that I won't be in like Grimauld when James is over at my house and like Chloe is at Katie's or anything?' Everybody laughed. It was very confusing but Lily and James wanted to meet each other's family and Sirius wanted to meet Katie's family which Katie was very excited about and Katie wanted to meet his Mum…which Sirius wasn't very excited about. They made sure they all had a chance to spend some part of their summer vacation together.

After hours of talking about their summer plans the train slowed down at King's Cross where Mr. Shoreman, Mr. and Mrs. Potter and Mr. and Mrs. Campbell stood waiting for their children. Katie pressed her face against the window. A wide grin spread across her face as she saw her father's friendly face waiting for her.

'He's going to love you.' She told Sirius who was looking anxious.

'I've never met my girlfriend's parents before.' Sirius told her.

'You've never really had the chance.' Katie told him. 'Don't worry he's such a nice guy and my mum is great.' Katie's mum worked in the ministry and was very busy. Sirius nodded.

'Do see your parents Prongs?' Sirius asked. James couldn't see them but he knew they were around somewhere. They all piled out of the train a long with their trunks. They went off in pairs; James and Lily, Sirius and Katie, Chloe and Mel and Lupin and Peter.

'Look for black hair.' James told Lily. Finally they spotted James's parents. His mother had dark chestnut hair and his father had black hair that was graying slightly. They both smiled as they saw Lily and James come towards them. James wanted to run to them but he didn't want to leave Lily feeling awkward.

'This must be Lily,' Mrs. Potter said with a warm smile. James nodded.

'This is her.' James said smiling broadly. 'These are my parents Lily.'

'Hello Mr. and Mrs. Potter.' Lily said quietly and shook both their hands. James hugged both of his parents.

'Both of you have passed your apparition tests?' Mr. Potter asked.

'With flying colours.' Lily grabbed onto James's arm because she did not know the destination.

Meanwhile Katie was running a long to her dad her trunk trundling behind her. He spread his arms out wide and she jumped into them.

'Hey Dad!'

'Hey Kiddo!' He ruffled her hair. His own hair was the same rich shade of brown as Katie's but was fading in some areas. Katie walked back to Sirius and grabbed his hand. She smiled as she introduced the two of them.

'Nice to meet you Sirius' her father said smiling and reached out his hand to shake Sirius's. Sirius shook his hand.

'Same to you Mr. Shoreman.'

'Call me Oliver.' Sirius smiled, he already liked him.

'Ok Oliver.' Katie smiled as Sirius and herself grabbed their trunks and walked over to a car. Sirius and Katie looked out the back window and watched Kings Cross fade into the distance.


	2. Perfect

Perfect

Lily and James arrived in the yard of the Potter residence.

'Here we are,' sang James's Mum. Lily was astonished at the amount of bewitched objects that were in the Potter household. Brooms were sweeping, the sink was cleaning dishes, a small house elf arrived.

'Master James!' the small creature cried.

'Hey Chinky!' James called out. 'Would you mind carrying our bags up?'

'Not at all Master James!' Chinky went over to take Lily's bag and then looked up at her.

'My Chinky talk to your lady friend?' Chinky asked.

'Of course!' James told him.

'Chinky thinks your very pretty James's lady friend.' Lily blushed.

'Why thank you…Chinky was it?' Chinky nodded quickly. 'Then thank you Chinky.' Chinky went off with their trunks. 'Who was that?'

'Chinky the house elf.' James told her.

'A house elf?'

'You've never seen a house elf before?' Lily shook her head, James was astonished. 'House elves have acted as wizarding servants for centuries. They must abide their masters commands or they must punish themselves. If the master gives the house elf a piece of clothing it is free however most house elves see this is a form of disrespect and would prefer to work. This is why we have kept Chinky in our family but treat her more as a family member than a servant.' Lily nodded. Lily had always done her own cleaning, she thought this method was very peculiar. 'You'll be in the guest room Lily.' James acknowledged to the stairs. 'Want to take a look?' Lily nodded and headed up the stairs. James opened the second door on the left and let Lily in. An antique drawer stood in the corner which her trunk sat beside. Their was a mirror on the wall, a full sized bed with a quilt and flowers beside her bed. 'So there aren't many enchantments in here,' James told her. 'Just know that the mirror talks sometimes and the drawers will automatically open for you'

'Well I'm not used to any enchantments at home…so two is a lot actually.' James laughed. The two of them heard the door creak open and James's Mum popped her head in.

'Sweetie would you like to give Lily a small tour?'

'In a second Mum.' James told her. James and Lily headed outside and James gave her a tour of the upstairs floor. It held the master bedroom, James's bedroom, a small and a water closet. James's bedroom was filled with moving posters, old enchanted books and scattered parchment. A small snitch sat on his bedside table.

'Good to see my room hasn't been touched.' James told her.

'You like it messy?' Lily asked.

'I find it cosy.' Lily looked at it and realized that she knew exactly what he meant. They headed down stairs where there was a living room, another lavoratory, the kitchen and a small headquarters for Chinky. They could smell dinner finishing when they walked into the kitchen.

'Smells good Mum,' James told her. Mrs. Potter had enchanted the potato peeler and the knife to peel and cut the potatoes. They were boiling on the stove as Mr. Potter enchanted the knife to carve a roast beef and Chinky pulled Yorkshire pudding out of the oven.

'Looks delicious.' Lily said as she watched the unusual method of making dinner. James's parents smiled at Lily and asked her to take a seat at the table.

'James set the table please.' They ordered politely. James pointed his wand at the cabinet and their settings flew to the table and landed perfectly in place. The food was placed on the table and the lights were dimmed. Mr. Potter lit some candles with his wand.

'Help yourself.' They told Lily and Lily did so.

'So tell us about school.' Mr. Potter told Lily. 'What are your favourite classes? How do you do?'

'Well my favourite class would be potions which I do very well in.'

'How well?' Mrs. Potter asked.

'She get's O's on everything.' James told his parents.

'Very good.' They told her. 'What other classes.'

'Well let me see, I rather like transfiguration, defence against the dark arts.'

'All O's again?'

'In transfiguration yes, in defence I get mostly E's.' The Potter's nodded politely.

'And you son?'

'Same as usual.' James told them taking a bite of his potatoes.

'All O's?' James nodded. The Potter's smiled broadly. 'That's our boy.' Mr. Potter patted James on the back.

'And Quidditch?'

'Oh it was brilliant this year, we won the cup. Never missed the snitch.' James smiled broadly. Quidditch was something that James was very proud of his achievements in.

'See that Lily?' Mrs. Potter asked. 'He's an all around achiever.'

'Yes,' Lily said. 'He's brilliant.'

'He's more than that.' Mr. Potter told her. 'He's perfect.'


	3. The Missing Parent

The Missing Parent

Sirius and Katie made their way up to the Shoreman's house.

'Is Mum home?' Katie asked. Her dad shook his head. Katie's happy expression dropped. 'She's at work isn't she?'

'She's very busy Katie…' her Dad started.

'So she couldn't come and see her daughter who she hasn't seen since Christmas? She was barely even there at Christmas break and it was a holiday!'

'I'm sorry Kate…' Katie stormed off into the house with her trunk following. Katie had a few tears formed in her eyes as she sat on her couch. Sirius walked slowly behind her. Katie patted the spot next to her.

'I'm sorry Sirius.' Katie told him. 'The visit has already started out badly.' Sirius gave her a hug.

'Don't worry 'bout it Kate.' Sirius smiled at her. Katie forced a smile back and then looked around.

'So this is my house.' Sirius got up and walked around. It looked almost like a muggle house that he saw in a magazine. There were signs that it was inhabited by magical people though. There was a container of floo powder sitting beside the fire place. Pictures were moving that were hanging on the walls.

'You have a brother?' Sirius asked as he looked at a picture. Katie nodded.

'He works at Gringotts.' Sirius looked closely at the picture and noticed that Katie and her brother seemed very close. He looked about four years older. Katie smiled at the picture of them, both of them on their brooms. A shelf of enchanted books sat by the fireplace. Sirius picked one up and the book sneezed as dust flew. Katie laughed at Sirius trying to swat the dust away.

'I don't know why we still have those books, we never read them. I guess we just like to hold on to things.' Sirius nodded, his family was the same way sometimes. Katie looked over at the book and then went quiet.

'Umm want to go see your room, your staying in my brother's.' Katie told him and then began to rush towards the stairs. Sirius was confused but agreed. Her brother's room was very neat with a bookshelf of old school books, a desk with quills and parchment and pictures of quidditch on the wall. An owl was perched by the windowsill.

'What's his name?'

'Owl'

'What's the owl's name?' Sirius asked confused. Katie laughed.

'His name is owl! Didn't you ever do that when you were a kid? Had a stuffed animal that was a bear and called him bear? Well that's what my brother did with our family owl.' Sirius smiled at owl who was cleaning his talons. 'The room's nothing special, I hope it's OK.' Katie told him glancing over at Sirius's face.

'It's great.' He told her and gave her a hug.

'I think I smell dinner.' Katie told him and they headed down for dinner where Katie hoped that Sirius would have a good time meeting his parents. She bolted down the steps two at a time with Sirius in tow.

'Barbeque!' Katie exclaimed.

'I hope you like hamburgers Sirius. We also have sausages.' Oliver told Sirius while flipping a hamburger on the barbeque.

'Both are great.'

'Great, we'll eat outside on the picnic table.' Oliver told them. 'Can you help set the table guys?' With a flick of a wand from Katie they heard clanging and then they watched the plates, cups and condiments go flying on to the table.

'Something's missing.' Katie thought out loud. 'Drinks!' Katie beckoned Sirius over in to the kitchen where they made lemonade.

'I always buy it in a carton.' Sirius told her.

'When you make it you can make it to perfection.' After adding the water and the sugar to the lemon juice they headed out to the picnic table where their meal sat. Sirius slid in next to Katie and across from Oliver. Oliver looked at his watch and then over at Katie.

'It's OK Dad.' She told him.

'She'll be here soon I promise.' Katie nodded.

'It isn't going to stop me from starting.' Oliver laughed and helped himself to a hamburger.

'So Sirius where do you live?'

'In London.' He said as he applied sauerkraut to his sausage.

'Great city' Oliver told him. Sirius nodded.

'Follow any football over there?'

'I don't have a particular team, I know of the sport and all which some people actually don't but I'm more of a quidditch follower.'

'Ah the same as Kate here.' Katie smiled.

'So how long have you guys known each other.'

'Well we've known each other for a couple years now but we're in different houses. I'm a Gryffindor myself and so we didn't know each other that well. We just really got to know each other this year actually.'

'Through classes?'

'Um' Sirius looked over at Katie who was looking down at her plate. 'The Christmas Ball actually. I asked her to the Christmas Ball' Sirius cleared his throat then ate a bite of sausage.

'Oh a ball? That sounds like fun.' Sirius started coughing. Katie handed a glass of lemonade to Sirius.

'and it was fun Dad.' Katie said smiling. She looked through the corner of her eye over to Sirius who was doing the same. She smiled and he nodded.

Just then a woman in black witch robes appeared in the corner of the yard. She had dark brown hair with strands of grey. Her hair was pulled into a severe ponytail and she had a straight face on. If she pulled her hair looser and put on a smile she would have greatly resembled Katie. With Katie's current straight face expression they almost looked identical.

'Sorry I'm late darling.' Mrs. Shoreman called out as she sat down beside her husband.

'Remember me?' Katie asked. 'Your daughter. I haven't seen you since the beginning of Janruary.'

'Of course I remember you Katie. How are you?'

'I was great.' Sirius looked over to see what Mrs. Shoreman's reaction was going to be.

'That's wonderful.' She replied not noting that Katie's comment was in the past tense.

'Mum?' Katie looked over at her. Her Mum looked up. 'Mum this is Sirius.'

'Hello Sirius. How are you?'

'I'm fine thanks.' Sirius told her.

'How was work?' Oliver asked.

'Long and busy. In fact I'm on call right now.'

'As am I, but I still made some time to see my daughter.' Oliver told her.

'I'm sorry but work was just so busy and I couldn't get out. I've made time for her now.' Sirius felt a tap on his left and looked over to see Katie disapparate.

'I'm just going to…' Sirius looked over at Oliver who nodded.

'Go ahead Sirius.'

'Dinner was great.' He said as he got up from the table and into the house. He found Katie in her room. She was lying face down in a pillow, her legs sprawled out on the bed, one hanging off.

'I'm sorry.' She said into the pillow, muffling her voice when she heard Sirius enter. She sat up and Sirius sat beside her. 'I don't want you to get a bad first impression of her. She works a lot you know? She never used to be like this. It was my Dad who used to work quite a bit, he's a healer at Mungo's and is on call so his work isn't very reliable. Mum used to stay at home. Take care of the kids you know?' Sirius nodded. 'But she got work I think it was nine years ago.'

'So she's not around a lot?' Sirius asked. Katie shook her head.

'No…She's not the greatest mother. But I love her.'


	4. Morning Coffee

Morning Coffee

Lily woke up particularly early and had a feeling that James had not woken. James slept in when there was classes, chances were he would sleep in during vacation. Lily began to do her summer homework but then realized this was the first wizarding house she had ever been in. She heard somebody downstairs and decided to go down. Mrs. Potter was reading the daily prophet with a mug of hot coffee.

'Good morning.' Lily said shyly and Mrs. Potter looked up from the paper.

'Why good morning Lily dear. You drink coffee?' Lily nodded.

'I would love some.' A mug appeared in front of her and as she looked into her cup she saw coffee forming. Mrs. Potter looked at the confused look on Lily's face.

'Have you not drank coffee before?' She asked.

'Well I have but I just have a different way of making it.'

'How would that be?'

'Well I get up and pour it.' Lily smiled. Mrs. Potter did not have an amused expression on her face.

'Are you implying that we Potter's are lazy Ms. Evans?' Lily was shocked at the reaction.

'Oh no! Not at all! I would never presume to believe that…'

'What's going on?' James asked wiping his eyes as he came down the stairs. 'What's the racket?'

'It appears that your friend here thinks that we're lazy!' Mrs. Potter said in an exasperated voice. Horror stricken Lily was looking over wide-eyed at James.

'Is this true Lily?' James asked walking towards her.

'James of course it isn't!' James laughed. Lily looked confused.

'Lily I'm just joking,' James told her laughing and Lily's cheeks became blushed. 'Mum how did this start?'

'Well darling Lily said that she herself got the coffee by standing up and pouring it. Why not brew the coffee by magic if you have the ability. It's like having the remote in your hand but standing up and turning on the TV instead! It doesn't make me lazy if I have the resources to do otherwise!'

'Mum take it easy! Lily doesn't use magic in her house!'

'Why not?' She asked clearly confused.

'Lily is a muggle born mother.' Now it was Mrs. Potter's turn to be embarrassed.

'Oh I'm sorry darling.' Mrs. Potter told Lily as if things were completely normal. Even though Lily felt quite harassed she mumbled back,

'That's quite alright,' and took a sip of her coffee. James made himself some tea the Potter way and then went up stairs to get dressed. He knocked on Lily's door a few minutes later in muggle clothes.

'I'm sorry about my Mum Lill.'

'It's fine. It just scared me that's all.' Lily waked over to the door and gave James a hug. He kissed her on the top of her head and then pulled away.

'Why didn't you tell your family?' Lily asked.

'Because it isn't important.' James told her.

'It's my life! It's my back ground! I was…yelled at because I got up to get coffee! Clearly it's important!'

'It doesn't define you Lily so I didn't tell them. Now that they know it won't matter. My Mum was just confused. Can we just let this morning go?' Lily nodded. 'OK good. So we have another two weeks together here…what do you want to do?'


End file.
